ABSTRACT
The field placement component of the program is vitally important to the success of the program and involves a practicum experience (120 hours) which requires that the students immerse themselves within an existing school-based or school-linked collaborative for 15 weeks. Students are linked with a field supervisor at the site, who is trained in a discipline other than that of the students. There is also a university practicum supervisor. This technique illustrates our emphasis on cross-training by, for example, having social workers supervising educators and educators supervising nurses. As Knapp and his colleagues assert, the critical importance of the practicum site and supervisor cannot be overstated. Therefore our criteria for practicum site selection, which is quite different from UW’s, include only those sites where the operation of or formal plans to implement an interagency school-based or school-linked collaborative exist. We realize in this regard we are fortunate in having a number of working examples in California to use as a laboratory. This is in stark contrast to our colleagues in Washington who are faced with the need to create field placements for their students. Practicum students are enrolled concurrently in a student support seminar in which they discuss issues relevant to their practicum experience and present findings from their agency interviews.
